Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell demands perfection, channeling postseason intensity to anchor a depleted rotation while sharpening his command for October.
Blake Snell continued his impressive return from a left elbow injury on Sunday, but the Los Angeles Dodgers veteran still found plenty to criticize about his own performance.
Making his third start since suffering the injury in early May, Snell threw six scoreless innings in a 4-0 home victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner surrendered only two hits while striking out six and walking three.
On the surface, it looked like another dominant outing. Snell viewed it differently.
Snell’s accountability
Speaking with SportsNet LA afterward, the left-hander expressed frustration with multiple innings in which he recorded two quick outs before issuing full-count walks.
Snell considered those sequences unacceptable because he believes his command is good enough to avoid creating unnecessary traffic.
He also felt he became too focused on chasing strikeouts rather than concentrating on pitching seven, eight or nine innings.
Snell intends to clean up that part of his approach while continuing to improve, learn and develop as the postseason gets closer.
“There were a couple innings there where, you know, get two quick outs and then full-count walk, full-count walk,” Snell said.
“It’s not acceptable. I feel good, I know I can command the ball. Honestly, it’s lazy. It’s me trying to get strikeouts instead of trying to go seven, eight, nine. So I definitely got to clean that up. But I know I’m going to do that, and just continue to get better, and learn, and grow.”
His current situation carries some similarities to last season.
Snell returned in August last year from a left shoulder injury, giving himself enough time to build back up before the postseason.
Snell’s mindset
Manager Dave Roberts believes Snell has brought that same October mentality into his first three outings following this year’s absence.
According to Sonja Chen from MLB.com, Roberts said Snell has approached every start as though the postseason has already begun.
The Dodgers manager has seen that intensity reflected on the mound and expects games to become even more demanding as September and the postseason approach.
“He told me, his words, ‘It’s the playoffs for me, right now from the outset,’” Roberts explained.
“So he’s showing that. The games are going to get more intense as we get into September and beyond. But love what we see.”
Snell owns a 1.00 ERA and 0.78 WHIP in 18 innings over three starts since returning from the Injured List.
Each outing lasted exactly six innings. He has issued seven walks in those 18 innings, but remains encouraged by the command he has demonstrated since returning.
His presence has become even more important because the Dodgers’ rotation remains incomplete.
Roki Sasaki is on the Injured List, while Shohei Ohtani has yet to return to the mound.
Snell’s importance
For Los Angeles, Snell’s strong comeback has therefore provided an important source of stability.
What separates Snell is the standard he places on himself even after excellent results.
A scoreless outing is not enough if he believes he wasted pitches, created avoidable baserunners or failed to work as deeply into the game as he should have.
That mentality is particularly valuable for a contender.
Snell combines experience, competitiveness and the confidence to challenge hitters while also remaining willing to critique his own execution.
He understands how to prepare for postseason baseball because he has already been through the process of building back from injury late in a season.
His ability to treat August and September with October-level urgency gives the Dodgers another experienced starter capable of setting the tone.
The results have been strong since his return.
Snell, however, is clearly focused on making sure his process becomes even better before the games matter most.
